{"id":3794,"date":"2025-04-25T08:38:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T15:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=3794"},"modified":"2025-04-25T08:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T15:38:34","slug":"even-more-on-the-economics-of-live-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/04\/even-more-on-the-economics-of-live-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Even more on the economics of live theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"430\" height=\"322\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3797\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4.png 430w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100vw, 430px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Freakonomics series on the economics of live theatre continues with this <a href=\"https:\/\/freakonomics.com\/podcast\/will-3-summers-of-lincoln-make-it-to-broadway\/\">third and final episode<\/a>, in which I talk about its value &#8211; no, not economic value: all the other kinds&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-freakonomics wp-block-embed-freakonomics\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"9QJJ2y98j0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freakonomics.com\/podcast\/will-3-summers-of-lincoln-make-it-to-broadway\/\">Will 3 Summers of Lincoln Make it to Broadway?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Will 3 Summers of Lincoln Make it to Broadway?&#8221; &#8212; Freakonomics\" src=\"https:\/\/freakonomics.com\/podcast\/will-3-summers-of-lincoln-make-it-to-broadway\/embed\/#?secret=Vbff4LUIzO#?secret=9QJJ2y98j0\" data-secret=\"9QJJ2y98j0\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Freakonomics series on the economics of live theatre continues with this third and final episode, in which I talk about its value &#8211; no, not economic value: all the other kinds&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-Zc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3779,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/04\/on-the-hidden-economics-of-live-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":3794,"position":0},"title":"On the hidden economics of live theatre","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Freakonomics Radio has a new three part series on the economic landscape facing live theatre. Part One is here, and part two is here, which as a supporting act in an episode with Lin-Manuel Miranda, has me trying to coherently explain cost disease in the theatre, where it comes from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2791,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2022\/06\/book-diary-june-7-new-working-paper-on-the-economics-of-arts-funding\/","url_meta":{"origin":3794,"position":1},"title":"Book Diary &#8211; June 7 &#8211; New Working Paper on the Economics of Arts Funding &#8211; Updated June 9 with a good question","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Still a work in progress, but a draft essay summarizing the economic approach to public funding for the arts is available here for (free) download. Public goods and externalities, there's no disputing tastes, or maybe there is, nudges, merit goods, Leonard Bast, The Children of Men, contingent valuation, and an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/wonderboys.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/wonderboys.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/wonderboys.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/wonderboys.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/wonderboys.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2738,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2022\/05\/book-diary-may-9-how-did-i-get-here-some-biography-econ-101ism\/","url_meta":{"origin":3794,"position":2},"title":"Book Diary &#8211; May 9 &#8211; How did I get here? Some biography, Econ 101ism&#8230;","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I am writing a book about The Moral Foundations of Public Funding for the Arts. My first diary entries are here and here. How did I come to be writing on this topic? Let's go way back... In high school I was one of the band room kids: French horn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"just a singer in a rock and roll band","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Elygra-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2195,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2017\/05\/cost-disease-in-the-arts-what-does-it-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":3794,"position":3},"title":"Cost disease in the arts: what does it mean?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Professor William Baumol, one of the greatest living economists, has died at the age of 95. Alan Krueger did an interview with him here, and Tyler Cowen has written often about him, here. Readers of artsjournal.com know him best for his conception of cost disease, done jointly with William Bowen.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"this costs *how* much?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/barbershop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/barbershop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/barbershop.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/barbershop.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/barbershop.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2916,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/07\/whats-wrong-with-the-theatre-is-whats-wrong-with-society\/","url_meta":{"origin":3794,"position":4},"title":"What&#8217;s Wrong with the Theatre is What&#8217;s Wrong With Society","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"July 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In the New York Times, Isaac Butler sounds the alarm for the fate of live theatre in the US: The American theater is on the verge of collapse. ... Regional and nonprofit theaters were in trouble well before 2020 and the force majeure of the pandemic. Most regional and nonprofit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2976,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2024\/03\/on-the-high-price-of-west-end-tickets\/","url_meta":{"origin":3794,"position":5},"title":"On the high price of West End tickets","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Guardian has\u00a0a new editorial\u00a0up about how the price of a theatre ticket in London is too darn high. I imagine it would be possible to write a similar piece about theatre in any big North American city as well. But it makes some questionable claims and assumptions, so, here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3798,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794\/revisions\/3798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}